Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council carrying out a child contact assessment. This is because we have not seen enough evidence of fault with the Council’s actions to warrant a further investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council’s social worker wrote a new contact assessment. He said the Council is not listening to the child or the child’s previous social worker.
2. He complains the Council should stick to the Supervision Order plan.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we have not seen enough evidence of fault to justify a further investigation by us.
8. The Council has explained why the child’s new social worker had to complete a new contact assessment. It said the new assessment was to build on the assessment completed by the previous social worker.
9. It said the new social worker also wanted to see the child in different settings to get an up-to-date and clear picture of the child’s circumstances.
10. The Council also advised Mr X that the social worker’s new reports would be needed should the Council have decided to ask the court to extend the Supervision Order in November 2025.
11. However, we note the Council has confirmed they decided not to ask the court to extend the Supervision Order.
12. Mr X complained about the change in social workers. We can see the Council already advised him they allocated his child a new social worker because the previous one went on long term leave.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we have not seen enough evidence of fault with the Council’s actions to warrant a further investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman